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Recreating The Cheesecake Factory Kale Salad

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Okay, foodies, settle down. I know Cheesecake Factory is not acceptable fodder for a serious food blog. However, I’m not all that serious, and cut me some slack, I’ve only been there once.

My coworker/friend and I were on our way home from a work trip and stopping for Atlanta for the night. We pulled into town around 9:30-ish, and we were hungry-ish with few options available that time of night and very little energy to put into the decision. We veered into the Cheesecake Factory parking lot in a hazy moment of defeat peppered with hopes of cheesecake for dinner. Turns out, my food-snobby taste buds were pleasantly surprised to see a kale salad on the menu that sounded delicious. And it was. And I’ve had memories of that kale salad stewing in the back of my mind every since. We received kale in our Harvest Moon box last week (and again this week – YES!) as well as apples, and I was pleased as punch to attempt to finally recreate this salad of yore.

Cheesecake Factory Kale Salad

– enough washed & dried kale to fill your plate

– 1/2 an apple, granny smith or a green apple of some sort

– 2 tablespoons buttermilk ranch dressing

– slivered almonds

– dried cranberries

Obviously, I was missing those last two ingredients. But this salad was the bomb, despite their noticeable absence. I plan on picking them up and enjoying this salad all week long.

Who knew I would take away something so delicious from a chain restaurant? ;) My version, of course, with its locally grown and organic kale and apples, beats Cheesecake Factory any day, in my local-loving book.

And yes, we got cheesecake and took it to our hotel rooms. YOLO…?

What’s your favorite way to eat kale? I have two more bunches from our box this week and need some ideas!

You’re right! I only had it once and was trying to recreate it from memory. Thanks to readers like y’all I now know everything it had in it! This dressing tastes a lot like the original too. So yummy! Thanks for commenting!